


Soul Marks

by 1nceGivenUp_NeverRegained



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: I saw a tumblr post, M/M, and had to write this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 20:36:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5599969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1nceGivenUp_NeverRegained/pseuds/1nceGivenUp_NeverRegained
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The tricky thing about the soulmarks was that they were the last words your soulmate would ever say to you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is highly un-edited so please let me know if there are any glaring errors.

The tricky thing about the soul marks was that they were the last words your soulmate would ever say to you. If there were no names involved, you wouldn’t know if it was you dying or them. FN-2187’s words were nestled on the inside of his ankle, they read ‘I’m sorry, Finn’ in a scrawling, slightly messy handwriting whose letters would change what they looked like every once in a great while. 

They confused him because he didn’t have a name, much less Finn, so he had no idea why his soulmark contained those words. Whatever the reason was, the stormtrooper was excited because it meant that he would meet his soulmate at least once.

When he broke out the rebel pilot and they exchanged names, he felt his heart stop for a second upon being given the name ‘Finn’. The pilot, Poe Dameron, apparently, seemed to be a fairly light hearted person who was ecstatic to be out and willing to participate in Finn’s excitement in having made it out of the First Order.

As the TIE fell from the sky, he heard Poe yell “I can’t land! Finn! I’m sorry.” And Finn’s heart stopped for the second time since meeting this man, panic making him seize up as he ejected in the slim hope of surviving. 

His heart dropped through his shoes as the stolen TIE sank below the sand, his grip on the discarded jacket tightening impossibly. The possibility that he had just met and lost his soulmate hitting him harder than anything ever had. 

His trek through the desert was grueling and he almost gave up multiple times before remembering that he had to find the BB droid that Poe had spoken of, and he had to get it back to the Resistance.

The next part of his adventure went in a blur of firefights and weird creatures and green forest. His mind wasn’t clear until the Resistance pilots came across the lake to save the day and the fog in Finn’s mind cleared slightly. He felt hopeful again, but had no idea why. Finn’s mind focused on one fighter in particular who was doing some spectacular stunts to eliminate the TIE fighters.

“That’s one hell of a pilot!” He whooped, cheering slightly before the rush of battle caught back up to him and he got swept away into the blur.

When he found BB-8 again, Rey had been taken by Kylo Ren and what hope had been returned was gone. The little bot sped onto the Falcon, whirring and beeping with too much excitement for the situation. Finn shushed BB-8, sinking into a seat with his head in his hands. He had managed to gain two friends and lose them in the span of a day. 

Han came back to tell him that they had reached the base and needed to go greet the General and start explaining their situation and show her the map. Finn nodded listlessly, accidentally catching a glimpse of the words ‘bring our son home’ written in a neat cursive on the man’s wrist. It reminded him of his own words scrawled messily on his ankle, making his heart sag even more.

The wookie, Chewie, Finn reminded himself, patted him on the back in a manner that Finn supposed was meant to be reassuring, but was just jarring.

General Organa didn’t need Finn right off, so he set off, with BB-8’s guidance, to the airfield, hoping to find whoever was flying the X-Wing that he had fixated on. 

When they arrived, BB-8 started chirping so happily that Finn thought it was malfunctioning. He watched as it sped off to a nearby ship whose pilot was just jumping down from the cockpit, helmet still on. The pilot crouched down to greet the ecstatic robot before taking off their helmet. 

The world stopped as the man that Finn had thought to be dead rubbed BB-8’s head as the robot chirped before looking up and making eye contact. Poe’s eye widened with a look of surprise before a huge smile spread across his face. Finn was already running toward him when Poe took off. 

They met in the middle, Poe’s arms wrapping around Finn’s waist as Finn’s went around his neck, both men indescribably happy, even though neither could pinpoint an exact reason. When they parted, Finn demanded what had happened and came out of the conversation with a new jacket that was no longer a reminder of loss, but a sign of survival and happiness.

In the planning of the assault of the Starkiller, Poe and Finn were never more than five feet away from each other, and Poe caught the glances that the General sent their way regularly. Poe and his fellow pilot explained the situation, everyone shifting their attention to Finn as he intervened with what he knew of the set up. He smiled back at Poe as General Organa adjusted the plan to incorporate the new information. 

Finally, the meeting wound to a close, and the General called Poe and Finn over as everyone else left, Solo leaving after one final glance at the woman.

“Poe, may I talk to your friend and then you? I have a few questions for you both.” Poe nodded, patting Finn on the shoulder and stating that he would be just outside the door.

“How can I help you, ma’am?” Finn asked, hands clasped behind him, shifting into an old stormtrooper stance.

“At ease, Finn. I want to thank you for bringing Han home, and for making Dameron smile more than he has in a while.” Finn smiled slightly, General Organa’s face softened as she continued. “You’re pretty sure he’s your soulmate, aren’t you?” The question took the former stormtrooper aback for a moment, then he nodded, the older woman smiled. “The system is tricky, isn’t it? You get their last words, so you only have a feeling to go off of. And if your mark is a commonly used phrase, then you have a heart attack anytime anyone says it.” Finn nodded.

“Yeah, it’s not good.” Leia noticed his hesitation.

“You aren’t sure.” It wasn’t a question.

“No.” Finn shook his head. “I was raised as a soldier, I wasn’t ever told what having a soulmate felt like, I was just told that is was a weakness.”

“But now that you think that you’ve found yours, you are starting to doubt that.” The general was obviously remembering her own questions.

“Yeah. I just... I’m not sure. I don’t know what meeting your soulmate is supposed to feel like.” Finn’s head dropped slightly, he looked back up to the kindest look he had ever seen on General Organa’s face.

“Describe it for me, if you can.” Her voice held a level of understanding that Finn cherished. So, he launched into a description of what he had first felt when he had seen Poe, when they had been flying the TIE, when he thought Poe was dead, then when he had seen the man again. The whole time, the general was smiling as if Finn was her own son. When he finished, she sat down on a crate and patted the one next to him.

“Well, if my experience is worth anything, I’d say you’ve got him and should never let him go.” She paused before continuing. “What is your phrase, if I may ask?” Finn paused, then sat down next to her.

“I’m sorry, Finn.” He stated quietly, his hand grasped his ankle loosely, thumb rubbing at the spot where the words were written. “What is yours?” General Organa slipped a simple gold cuff off of her wrist, revealing the words ‘I will’ in a shaky chicken scratch.

“Everytime he ever says that, my heart stops. I’ve always just figured that so long as he never reacts the same way to how I respond, it’s not the time.” Finn nodded. 

“Thank you, General.” He was as sincere as he had ever been, Organa had been extremely kind in the time before an attack. 

“Call me Leia, and it’s no trouble.” She patted his knee before sighing. “Well, why don’t you send Dameron in, I need to talk to him too. Don’t worry, I’ll let the two of you discuss this.” Finn nodded, shaking Leia’s hand before moving to the door and telling Poe that it was his turn.

As he watched Poe walk away, he heard a low chuckle behind him. He turned to see Han Solo leaning in a doorway.

“She misses being a mother. She always loved taking care of new members.” His tone was filled with wry amusement and just a hint of caring.

“She’s your soulmate, isn’t she?” Finn asked. Solo nodded.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. Won’t know until one of us is about to die, but we’re pretty damn sure.” Finn was quiet, reflecting on how he had barely seen the two of them interact without arguing. “Don’t worry, kid, we’re a rare case in the system, most couples aren’t this stand offish.” The older man saw the noticeable relief on the younger’s face. “There’s another way that most people can tell before they hear their words.”

“Really? I didn’t think-”

“It’s not proven absolutely, but the number of coincidences are too high to be just that.” Solo took a deep breath, “The location of your words and your soulmate’s should coincide. Mine are on my right wrist, hers are on her left. If you can find out where Poe’s are, then you’ll have a much better idea. I’d ask Leia, or just look at her face. You’ll be able to tell if she knows or not.” Finn shifted to lean heavily on a wall. His life had completely turned upside down and he was starting to have trouble processing as his breathing sped up.

“Hey, kid, look at me.” One of Solo’s hands were on his shoulder, one on his cheek, trying to get him to open his eyes. “You’re having a panic attack, kid. It’s to be expected based on how your day has been going.” Fin tried to breathe more deeply, but couldn’t seem to. He slowly sank to the floor, BB-8 having appeared and rolled over, beeping in a worried manner. “Hey, robot, go get your master. I don’t think anyone else can pull the kid out of this.”

BB-8 whirred as it rolled through the door and beeped loudly and quickly as it approached Poe. Han heard Poe talking to the bot, then pounding footsteps. The man slid into place next to Finn, falling to his knees. His hands quickly replaced Solo’s cradling the former stormtrooper’s face as if he were made of glass.

“Finn, Finn, breathe for me. Deep breaths.” He started regulating his own breathing, providing something for Finn to listen to and match. 

“Can you tell?” Han asked Leia quietly. The woman smiled, her fingers lightly tracing the patterns of her bracelet. 

“Yes. Their words are the same as ours but on the inside of their ankles and I can feel the bond between the two of them. I can’t tell how long, though. Luke would be able to, but I’m not strong enough in the Force.” Leia turned away from the pair on the floor and pulled Han into the war room so they could discuss what his part of the mission would be.

By then, Finn was slowly working his way out of his panic and had opened his eyes to realize just how close his face was to Poe’s. The other’s eyes were filled with concern as he continued to hold Finn as if he was afraid that Finn would shatter if he held him too tightly.

“Feeling better?” The older man’s voice was soft and caring, and Finn couldn’t help but feel safe. 

“Yeah. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt-” Poe cut him off.

“We were finishing up anyway, and I’m glad BB-8 got me so I could help.” Finn smiled slightly, a smile which Poe returned. “I think we need to talk before we both leave.” Finn nodded reluctantly. “We have plenty of time, we have two hours before we leave and according to General Organa, we can take an hour of that if not an hour and a half.” BB-8 chirped and Poe nodded. “BB-8 can get my X-Wing ready, you and I are going somewhere private to talk.”

It turned out that ‘somewhere private’ was Poe’s quarters. Poe gestured to the bunk beds that rested against one wall, sitting on his pillow with his back to the headboard while Finn sat on the other end.

“I’m assuming that Solo and the general were both conspiring to figure us out, and I think they did it.” Poe started after a few moments of tense silence. “She said that all she would tell me was that your words are on the inside of your right ankle.” He waited until Finn nodded, his thumb rubbing at the spot unconsciously. Poe looked nervous as he continued. “Mine is... Mine is on the inside of my left ankle.” Finn’s brain chugged a little to catch up, but soon understood.

“We are soulmates.” He breathed, trying to even out his breathing enough to prevent another panic attack like before.

“I think so.” Poe’s face held an expression that was radiating hope and sheer joy. “And, I know we won’t know hopefully for a long time, but I’d like to try.” When Finn nodded, the smile on Poe’s face grew impossibly bigger. He shuffled closer, Finn doing the same. “May I...?” The question trailed off, but Finn understood. He had heard about the bond between soulmates and how strong it was, but this defied all description. The former stormtrooper nodded, and leaned forward as Poe did the same. 

The resulting kiss was like nothing Finn had ever experienced. He was suddenly hyper aware of anywhere they were touching, their knees pressed together as both sat criss cross, and Poe’s hands once again cradling his face. Unsure of what to do with his hands, Finn decided to just settle them on Poe’s hips.

It didn’t last too long and was decidedly chaste, which both seemed to find appropriate. That didn’t mean that it hadn’t left both of them breathless. They stared at each other for a while, foreheads pressed together, joy nearly palpable.

Poe initiated the second kiss, introducing more emotion and intensity into this one. Finn responded to the best of his limited ability, making a surprised noise as Poe started to lay down, his hand on the back on Finn’s head pulling him down as well, forcing both to maneuver a little awkwardly. 

They found a comfortable position a few moments before breaking the kiss again for breath. Poe shifted the position of his arms so that they were wrapped around Finn’s waist, Finn resting his head on Poe’s chest, listening to his heartbeat.

“This is what having a soulmate is supposed to be like. Like coming home after a long day.” Poe whispered. Finn just nodded slightly, not wanting to move. “Get a little sleep, darling. BB-8 will come get us when we need to head down.” Finn looked up as best he could at his pillow, smiling gently.

“Thank you, Poe.” The older man smiled.

“Thank you, Finn.”

 

It was a generic run weeks later that turned dangerous, TIE fighters had descended on the team of X-Wings, who radioed back to base to report and request back up. Finn, who had been helping coordinating the attack froze for a moment. Everytime Poe was out and was in danger, he listened to each of his words carefully.

There was a moment of terrified silence as they all realized what had to be done. There was a communication tower that had to be taken out and everyone was out of ammo to use for that, the rest had to be for the TIEs.

It had to be bombed, and the pilot would have to eject but if they didn’t eject in time, they wouldn’t be coming back. They would have to be highly skilled. Finn knew exactly who would be chosen or volunteer.

“Don’t.” He whispered, knowing the communications setup wouldn’t hear him.

“I’ll do it. I can time it right.” Poe called through the comms. General Organa approved it, not without a reassuring glance at Finn.

“This is too dangerous. We should pull back.” One of the other people in the command center declared.

“It’s too late. Dameron started his dive.” The pilot’s voice was resigned. “His comm is flickering in and out.” As they informed the people listening, Poe’s comm crackled on.

“I’m sorr- Fin-” Silence reigned once again as the addressed man stumbled forward to brace himself on the command table.

“Poe! Don’t!” The comm crackled off as his voice cut off to choking back a sob. Everyone in the room who knew their soulmate stood in silence, and everyone else tried to imagine the pain that he was feeling.

General Organa moved closer, holding her hand just over Finn’s shoulder, not sure how he would react to touch. The former stormtrooper was braced on the table by his forearms and was bent nearly in half, forehead resting on his hands. She glanced around the room, acknowledging her second in command and silently signalling for her to take over.

“Finn, come with me.” General Organa whispered, gently guiding Finn out of the room. They walked through abandoned halls to Finn and Poe’s room. The man fell onto the bed, his head in his hands, tears causing his body to shake uncontrollably. The general sat next to him gently, hoping that her presence would help in some way.

At some point, Finn managed to pick up one of Poe’s shirts that was laying on the floor, pressing his face into it, soaking it through as he tried to cling to the smell and imagine it wasn’t empty.

A while later, General Organa was called away, but not before she pressed a motherly kiss to the side of his forehead. The door slid shut and Finn was left alone with the silence and his sorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank god rules are meant to be broken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has the same level of editing, quick warning. This is also much shorter.

It was a day or so before the door opened. Finn didn’t try to leave, and no one tried to disturb him, the small part of his mind still functioning reasoning that the general had probably told everyone to give him some space.

He was okay with it. No one’s company would be enough at this moment, only Poe could help. Finn felt empty. Like something was missing, as cliche as it sounds, he felt a Poe sized hole in his heart that he didn’t think he could fill.

The second day, however, the normally noisy door whirred open quietly in a way that only a few people could make it. Finn didn’t hear the door open, but heard the worried whirs and beeps that were distinctly BB-8.

“I’m not up to it right now, sorry, buddy.” The little robot didn’t leave him alone, beeping and whirring at him, poking him gently with his extension arm. “What do you want?” A few beeps later and he interrupted the bot again. “I can’t understand you, BB-8.”

He suddenly felt a tug at his sleeve, looking to see BB-8 pulling at Finn’s sleeve. “You want me to come with you?” BB-8 nodded, rolling toward the door, still pulling on Finn’s sleeve. The man sat up slowly, rubbing his hand over his face, debating if he wanted to face the base quite yet.

When he got the courage to, BB-8 led him out the door, and toward the airfield, which was echoing with cheers and laughter and yelling. His brows drew together in confusion. Poe was dead, when they lost a significant player, there wasn’t celebration when the X-Wings returned. 

BB-8’s sounds grew faster and happier the closer they got to the ships, when they got a decent distance from the star ships, the astromech sped away toward an X-Wing landed where Poe’s normally was.

Finn hung back, not wanting to be in the celebrations of the success of the mission, then the general approached him with a gentle smile on her face.

“Go. You’ll be glad you did, I promise.” When he looked at her, confused, her expression softened even more. “I think the galaxy has given you another chance. Don’t let it slip away from you.” His eyes shifted toward the ship in Poe’s normal place, and saw BB-8 twirling at one of its feet. His expression shifted, eyes widening, mouth opening slightly as the realization hit him, and hope started to rise in his gut.

The cockpit of the X-Wing opened and the pilot hopped out, greeted by an enthusiastic crowd. Even before he pulled off his helmet, Finn could tell it was him. Poe had survived. How, Finn didn’t care, he just took off, he ran faster than he had the first time they had been reunited, faster than when he and Rey had been running for their lives.

Someone saw him and poked Poe, pointing him toward Finn. Poe suddenly looked so concerned and walked to where he could essentially pick Finn up when his soulmate ran into him. The twirl he had resisted last time was irresistible now as he wrapped his arms around Finn’s waist and spun him once, both pressing their faces into the other’s neck.

“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that but we needed to take out that tower.” Poe felt Finn’s body shaking as sobs wracked his body once again, soaking the shoulder of his flight suit. “I’m okay. I promise. I’m so sorry.” The younger man’s arms held tighter, as if he was trying to convince himself that Poe was actually alive.

The area around them was being cleared, everyone giving them their privacy as no one expected Finn to let his soulmate go anytime soon.

“I thought you were dead.” Finn choked out, still hiding his face in the junction between Poe’s neck and shoulders. “I heard you say the words I’ve stared at for years, and the world stopped and you were dead.” Poe’s face softened, turning to press a long, gentle kiss to Finn’s head, murmuring apologies and sweet nothings. 

“Darling, I think I managed to change my words at least. I heard you say my mark and had a moment of panic before clarity, I realized that I wasn’t going to leave you alone. Not for a long, long, long time. I managed to eject and another pilot picked me up. I felt my ankle burning and haven’t checked yet, but I’m pretty sure it’s changed.” Finn blinked at him blearily, realizing that he hadn’t slept in nearly fifty-five hours, only getting one hour of nightmare plagued sleep.

“I don’t know if mine has changed.” Finn rasped, his throat dry from disuse, and full from crying.

“Hey, let’s go get to bed. You look exhausted and I know I could use some sleep.” When Finn looked concerned, he reassure his soulmate, “General Organa said I can add my part of the debrief later, you need to sleep.” Finn nodded, reluctant to let go of the man in his arms.

Poe shifted to hold Finn’s hand as he pulled him through the base. Everyone they passed smiled at the couple, happy to see Poe alive and happy that Finn had gotten his soulmate back. It didn’t take long for them to reach their room, where Poe’s heart broke a little as he saw the drawer that held his clothes open and the discarded shirt on the bed.

“C’mon.” He pulled Finn toward the bed, helping him strip down to sweatpants Finn had changed into a while ago and his t-shirt, Poe pulling off his flight suit, not bothering to change from the tank top and thermal leggings he wore under it.

They both laid down, tangling limbs, foreheads resting against each other. Poe pressed gentle kisses to Finn’s cheeks and face as his boyfriend was slowly lulled to sleep. He felt terrible for worrying Finn so much, neither of them had checked their ankles, and Poe wasn’t in a position to check them now. As he drifted off to asleep, he reasoned that they could check the next morning.

 

Poe woke up to an empty side of the bed and panic. He shot out of bed and started rushing to pull boots on when the bathroom door opened. Finn still looked a little worse for wear, but better rested and happier.

“Where are you in a rush to?” He asked, slightly amused at the frazzled look in Poe’s eyes. The pilot took a deep breath and relaxed back onto the bed.

“I woke up and you weren’t here.” Finn’s smile turned gentle and slightly guilty as he pulled on sweatpants and leaned against the bathroom door frame.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten up, I had to clean some cuts.” Poe’s eyebrow raised and Finn smiled guiltily, rubbing his hand against the back of his head. “I may or may not have punched the wall a couple of times.” He shrugged, his face falling, “I was angry. I wanted you back, but didn’t know what to do.” Poe stretched out his arms, reaching for Finn who walked over to stand between his legs. Poe placed his hands on Finn’s hips, resting his forehead against Finn’s stomach, Finn’s arms draped on his shoulders, forehead rested against the top of Poe’s.

“I’m so sorry, love.” Poe murmured, his thumbs rubbing reassuring circles on his soulmate’s hipbones. Silence reigned for a while before Finn whispered into Poe’s hair.

“I checked.” Poe looked up, leaning back slightly, face twisted in confusion. “My ankle, my phrase.” Realization spread to encompass the confusion and sheer hope encompassed that. “It’s changed.” The pilot’s eyes lit up, and his arms wrapped around Finn’s waist, laughing.

“We did the impossible.” His voice reflected the joy on his face. “We changed the soul marks.” Finn’s voice was just as giddy as he replied.

“Poe, it also means that we know that you’re my soulmate, without a doubt.” Poe reached up, grabbing Finn’s face to pull it to his in a kiss. It was soft and full of promises for the future. When they pulled back to breathe, Finn asked, “Do you want to know? What my new phrase is?” Poe frowned, then shook his head.

“No. No, I don’t. At least not right now. Maybe in the future, but not so close to our last run in with them.” Finn nodded, breathing in Poe’s air as they rested their foreheads together. 

 

Later, when putting on his boots, Finn would hesitate, rubbing his thumb over the scrawled words, smiling. Poe would do the same, finally looking at his, and feeling curiosity at the two simple words printed in a neat handwriting on his left ankle. 

 

_ ‘I have loved you for 68 years, Finn, and will never stop.’ _

  
_ ‘I know.’ _


End file.
